With Kikyo Again
by itsmarcopolo
Summary: Kagome Sees Inuyasha With Kikyo Again. What Will Kagome Do This Time To Get Him Back?


With Kikyo Again

Disclaimer:I don't own Inuyasha so leave me alone.

Kagome's Heart beat steadily in time to the guitars and drums that resonated from her stereo. Her heart kept its continuous pulse to the music as her pencil scratched on the paper in time to the soundless movements of her mouth. That was the new thing about Kagome. Everything she did was in rhythm to the music that she loved. Music was the only way to get her feelings out and the only way to finalize their disappearance from her mind. How else was a person supposed to keep her sanity while constantly being nagged and further aggravated by a silver haired annoyance back five hundred years before her own birth? She laughed a little at that thought. She constantly had some type of beat or musical substance with her or flowing through her mind at some point. When she thought of a certain hentai monk, her mind would always think of one song that's first line went "I like big butts and I cannot lie!" She laughed again. Sango always gave her a song like "Leave, Get Out". That was probably because Miroku always succeeded in breaking the moment or her heart with his stupid "cursed" hand. He keeps forgetting that the hand he usually uses for groping is not the one with the wind tunnel. When she looked at Shippo, he always seemed to bring about the tune her mother used to sing to her. "The itsy bitsy spider". Kirara always seemed like a symphony orchestra, with beautiful chords. Kirara was just too much for words. And InuYasha. Wow. He always left many songs going through her head. Mostly songs of love and devotion, but the most frequent visitor to her mind was always "My Happy Ending" by Avril Lavigne. She had known him for six years now, making her 21 years old. They had defeated Naraku, but in the process shattered the jewel all over again. For some reason InuYasha had seemed fine with the fact that she had hit the jewel again.

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Naraku laughed as InuYasha fell to the ground for a second time during the fight. Kagome wanted to scream and run to his side, but she knew better. After six years with InuYasha, she knew his plans were usually winners. She was to wait in the bushes while Sango and Miroku took care of Kanna and Kagura. Kouga was to help InuYasha distract Naraku. She continued to wait as a silent tear fell from her eye, looking at InuYasha's wounds. That was when she saw it. Her chance to destroy Naraku was staring her right in the face. The nearly whole shikon no tama was in the middle of his spider mark on his back, where she needed to hit him in order to kill him. She quickly took out her three jewel shards, using her miko powers to fuse them together with the tip of an arrow. She carefully strung the bow and aimed; pouring all the miko energy she had into the shot. Praying to all the gods she could think of, she let the arrow fly and it hit its target. The clearing filled with a bright light as Naraku disintegrated in front of their eyes. There was only one problem. The arrow was standing still in mid air, its tip hitting the nearly completed jewel. There was a cracking sound heard and another light filled the clearing. Kagome gasped as she watched the same thing that occurred six years before happen again. The jewel flew up in the air, letting the arrow drop to the ground. Suddenly there was an even brighter light and the jewel spread into hundreds of pieces across Japan. Again.

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I wonder why InuYasha was so understanding about that.' She mused.

"Come on Kagome. We gotta go back. Jewel shards don't sense themselves, you know."

The very object of her thoughts interrupted her reverie. She turned around with a smile on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Had InuYasha been able to hear her thoughts, he would have heard "Of course Mr. Heartless Bastard, sir. Ill go back to your era five hundred years away from my family for god knows how long just so I can do a job that you have so far not realized that Kikyo could do, but Kami knows I won't point it out to you because if I do I will have no reason of staying there and no hope of getting you to love me." But that was not what came out of the young girls mouth. He heard only what she would show the world. He heard only what her mask would allow out of her mouth.

"Of course InuYasha. My bag is over there. Just let me get my CD player."

InuYasha's scowl attacked at full force. "What _is_ it with you and that damn noise-making contraption?"

Kagome's frown came up to return fire. "I _like_ to listen to my music thank you very much."

InuYasha fought back with a snarl. "I don't care, that thing is annoying because you never listen! I have to pry it off your fucking ears before you will pay attention!"

Kagome's eyes sparked angrily. "Who says I _want_ to listen to you? Maybe my music doesn't swear at me and _maybe_ it keeps me from s.i.t. ing your butt to where Naraku came from!"

InuYasha growled back. "S_o_! Who cares if your music doesn't swear at you! You are _not taking that thing_!"

Kagome glared back harshly. "_You are not my mother! You have absolutely no control over what I do you overbearing bossy tyrannical dog_ _faced annoying jerk_!" She screamed and turned to leave but turned back with an eerily sweet face and said, "Oh, and I forgot," the sweet look soon turned incredibly hostile, " _Sit_ boy!" She picked up her pack and ran to the well house.

InuYasha was busy getting acquainted with her carpet when he heard the well house door open, only to close a few seconds later. He sighed as the spell began to wear off and the feeling returned to his numbed and previously useless limbs. He slowly got off the floor and headed down the stairs to tell her family that they were going to be gone for an unknown amount of time. At least that was his plan until he got to the bottom of the stairs.

"InuYasha! Cool!"

Shit.

In one brief moment his goodbye plan turned into a desperate escape plan.

He ran to the kitchen only to be seen by Kagome's ofuda-laden grandfather, who proceeded to join Sota in the chase for the terrified half demon. He turned and ducked a flying charm by a millimeter, proceeding to run screaming out of the house, almost crashing into Kagome's mom in a desperate attempt to get to the well. His foot slipped, causing him to do a back flip and loose his bearings, but he wasn't going to stop. He ran blindly, running smack into the well house doors. He was dazed for a moment, but stood up the second he heard the war cry of Kagome's scary jii-chan. He got up and succeeded in opening the doors and getting through the well before Kagome's grandfather started sticking sutras on his butt or her cute but clingy little brother proceeded to pull on his very sensitive ears. He sighed in relief as the calming blue aura surrounded him.

Kagome's mom watched InuYasha's barely successful escape, laughing the entire time. She had heard their argument and saw her daughter's quiet escape, as opposed to the hanyou's nothing-short-of-hilarious exit of her home. She stood laughing as her father and son made their way into the house, both disappointed and staring at her as if she were the craziest person alive.

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Miroku stood at the well with Sango, Shippo and Kirara, waiting for Kagome to arrive back in their time. He held his welcoming smile in place as he slowly inched his hand closer to Sango, who was standing on his left side. He smiled as his hand felt the curve of her round but firm bottom. He frowned as he soon had a round and firm lump on his head from her hiraikutsu.

"Keep your hands to yourself you hentai houshi!" came the scream that echoed in his permanently damaged eardrums. Before he could protest to her "wrongful accusations", Kagome came out of the well and glared disapprovingly at his pitiful form. She then proceeded to whisper something in Sango's ear that had both of them giggling like mad.

Sango smiled when Kagome came over to whisper in her ear. Her friend smiled too as she whispered, "I wonder if he notices his left hand is his groping hand, but his right one is the one that is cursed." She had to laugh at that. It was true. Most of the time that perverted monk would grope with the wrong hand for excuses. Oh well. She turned to the well as InuYasha stepped out of it looking quite disheveled.

Kagome turned to him with a confused and annoyed expression.

"What could have _possibly_ happened to you in the thirty seconds after I left the house?"

Kagome's scowl turned into a laugh as he stalked away, ignoring her question completely. She managed to catch some of his mumbled words such as sitting wenches, clingy brothers and creepy grandfathers' she also caught the word damn ofudas', but that was not what she was laughing at. She had desperately needed a laugh that day, and boy did she get one. Along with the rest of the others she followed the slightly confused hanyou, laughing, because, unbeknownst to him, he had a large white ofuda stuck right in the middle of his butt.

And nobody bothered to either tell him or to stifle his or her hysterical laughter.

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InuYasha stalked off into the woods, very annoyed with the rest of his companions. I mean, how hard was it to open your mouth and tell him he had a damned ofuda stuck to his ass! Kagome talked enough, she should have told him! And to think he had walked through the entire village like that, with every person laughing at him. He didn't even know that he had anything on his butt until this little child from the village came up to him (about an hour after he had freaked out about Kaede's mysterious fit of laughter) and told him that he had some "sticky paper" on his "posterior". He growled at the thought, pushing back some branches of a nearby tree in his effort to get to the Goshinboku.

And there stood Kikyou.

She saw him and called him over.

She turned to him with an expressionless face and dead eyes.

"I have much to speak to you about, InuYasha. But I must know if you still wish to go to hell with me. As you know, Naraku is dead and the jewel shattered again, but do you still wish to die with me? I do not hold you to your promise if you no longer wish to come with me. As I recall you never promised in the first place, but merely said that you were willing."

InuYasha thought of this. He knew that he had chosen long ago, about 5 years to be precise. It was the day that Kagome had told him that she would stay with him no matter what. He decided that he loved Kagome more right at the moment where they had stood in the middle of a clearing, the wind blowing in their hair and their hands clasped together. He had chosen without realizing it as he looked right into Kagome's warm brown eyes and saw her love for him in them. He realized later that the same love that she had shown him in her eyes was hidden in his heart, yet could not yet be shown through his own eyes. He turned back to Kikyou with his answer.

"Kikyou, I- can't. I'm sorry, but without my knowledge my heart was stolen."

Kikyou smiled. Of all the things that InuYasha had expected, it was not a smile that he had anticipated.

"It is my reincarnation. I understand and I hope that you are genuinely happy with her. She can love you as a half demon as I just could not bring myself to love you as. She is not merely my copy as she has secretly saved my life multiple times. She helped me to realize that she is not my copy. She is far from it. Kagome is different. Her heart is to help others and that is her nature. She truly is her own person."

InuYasha smiled.

"Thank you Kikyou."

She smiled back.

"I have only to ask one thing."

InuYasha turned back to her.

"What is it? One last thing and we will say goodbye. I do not want Kagome to get hurt if she sees us."

Kikyou smiled wider at his concern for the girl's feelings.

"I only wish for one last embrace."

InuYasha nodded and pulled Kikyou into his arms for the last time.

Unfortunately, that was all Kagome saw.

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Kagome ran through the forest to find InuYasha and ask him to take her home to get supplies. She had forgotten his ramen and Shippo's pocky. Her huge yellow pack was weighing her down as she dodged branches and trees. She figured he was pouting at Goshinboku due to the day's events. She brushed aside a branch and there they were. Sharing an embrace.

She couldn't believe her eyes. They were doing it again. And this time her heart was gone and her soul was broken. She didn't have control of her emotions or actions from that point on as she stepped out of the bushes to face the surprised pair, unaware of the fact that her eyes were glowing. She went over to Kikyou and placed the few jewel fragments she had in her hands. She turned to InuYasha and a tear fell from her eye.

"I am done. You and your precious Kikyou can go rot in the land of the dead after you find the rest of the jewel. I am finished with your obvious need to break my heart over and over again. Every time you do this I die a little and the anger builds up. Well, now you will see the full anger of Kagome scorned!"

Kagome felt something break deep inside of her and her eyes began to glow brighter. Suddenly a wave of many emotions began to wash over her heart, becoming phantoms swirling inside of her shattered soul. Her eyes became even brighter as they all fought for control of her body. They began to gather some of her miko energy and they got even stronger. Soon a black cloud of miko energy mixed with hatred formed around Kagome.

Kikyou watched the emotions building up within the young heartbroken miko. Her heart clenched as the phantoms began to tug at her soul, too, not realizing that she was not Kagome. She quickly formed a barrier around her soul to keep them away. The girl's emotions were viciously fighting and she could see that hatred would be the first one to take hold of her body.

As Kikyou suspected, soon the black cloud of emotion and energy completely surrounded Kagome, though she was still visible. Kagome turned to Kikyou, the hatred in her black aura surrounding her, giving her an eerie ghostlike appearance.

"You. I hate you. You trapped me in this life of being second best. Sloppy seconds to a dead clay pot with a stolen soul. The soul you have doesn't even belong to you anymore. It's mine! You stole it from me and you continue to use your stupid little snake demons to capture innocent souls from others just to keep your selfish body moving. You don't belong here!" Kagome's voice had an echo behind it, as if the black cloud surrounding her had a voice of its own.

InuYasha watched without moving as Kagome shouted at Kikyou and the black cloud of hatred receded, only to be replaced by a red one of anger. He didn't understand what was going on that he could actually _see_ her emotions in the form of a ghostlike cloud full of miko energy. He backed into a tree as she turned to him with the anger.

"And you. You always went to see this thing every time she was here. You yelled at me for even speaking with Kouga and Hojou, and then you go off and kiss this dead dirt pile! I am so tired of you always doing this. If you love Kikyou, then go with her! What I don't understand is why you get so jealous and why you always seem to only care and love Kikyou and you won't let me find someone who may love me as much as I do you! I could never find someone I loved more, but maybe I could find someone who would love me and stop breaking me." Her venom-laced words hit him fully in the heart. He wanted to love her, but there were so many things keeping him from loving her. Naraku and his other enemies would use her, and he had given Kikyou his word. He thought she would be better off thinking he didn't love her and move on than to find out he loved her too and be left alone because of a foolish promise. Now he was free! If only he had just told her before he went to Kikyou. He watched as her anger grew more and more fierce and she began to walk toward him.

Kagome had no idea what she was doing. There was a voice in her head telling her what to do. She tried to ignore it, but it only got louder until she obeyed. The words that were coming out of her mouth were her own, but her restraint was gone her emotions were taking control of not only her soul, but also her mind and body as well. Some kind of barrier had broken within her, and now she could feel her emotions so strongly they controlled her actions. It was like she was watching from a movie screen as she approached InuYasha.

InuYasha was getting nervous as she stalked angrily toward him. She was a mere six inches from him when she leaned in and kissed him. His eyes became wide and his arms came up to embrace her when she suddenly pulled away. He watched as the red of anger turned to green of jealousy. She turned around sharply to face Kikyou.

Kagome walked over until she was two feet away from the first owner of her soul. She began to speak in the same eerie double voice that she had been using. "You have everything. You had it first. First one to have the jewel. First one to have my face. First one to have my body. First one to have my powers. First one to have my eyes. First one to see InuYasha. First one to kiss InuYasha. First one to love InuYasha. First and only one to be loved by InuYasha. First one to have my soul. You were first for everything and you are still first in his heart. And that is why I hate you. I have to settle being called Kikyou's reincarnation'! That's it. I am never Kagome the priestess with the sacred jewel. I am Kagome, Kikyou's reincarnation, who in no way compares to her beauty or her heart or her powers or her at all. She is inferior to Kikyou. She will never be anywhere near where Kikyou was." She watched the surprise in Kikyou's eyes and then she saw sympathy. Kagome did not want sympathy from Kikyou. Besides, it was not actually sympathy. It was pity. Kagome screamed and her aura turned to red anger once again.

"I do not want your stupid pity! I want to hate you! I want you to go back to where you belong! I want no more of this pain!"

Then the anger receded and a blue aura surrounded Kagome. The aura carried the sadness of her heart and her understanding. Kagome backed away from both of them.

"I don't understand why. Why I had to fall in love with a half demon that hates me. I will never understand. I just wish this pain would end. It is not like me to be angry or to say things like that. I don't understand what is wrong." Her eyes stopped glowing for a second and were replaced by tear-filled brown ones. "I don't have any control over my emotions! I don't know what is wrong! Help me!" She screamed. As soon as the words left her mouth, her eyes began glowing again and she was surrounded by another emotion. A deep brown aura surrounded her and she was completely filled with fear. This time she said nothing.

She ran.

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InuYasha turned to Kikyou after Kagome had left.

"Wh-what happened to her? Why did those clouds surround her? Why were her eyes glowing?"

Kikyou answered sadly.

"InuYasha, you see, when a miko experiences pain such as hers for a long period of time her soul will weaken. The emotions she showed us today were not emotions that developed overnight InuYasha. I would say she has had her heart broken for a long time. When she saw us together, her soul had taken a final hit. Humans have very strong emotions, InuYasha, and Kagome is no exception. Normally, a human would have stopped caring about anything and wallowed in their sorrow by now. But Kagome was different. For the sake of you and the others, not to mention your quest for the jewel shards, she has bottled up all emotions and allowed them to fester inside of her soul for as long as she has held them. She wanted you to be happy and she wanted to live for something. Her soul broke and all the hidden emotions came out and the normal emotions receded. Her emotions are held apart from her heart by a barrier that was her soul. When her soul broke, all the feelings spilled out and took control of her body and mind. The miko powers created the problem by adding power to the already living human emotions, creating phantoms that possessed her further. Do you understand?"

InuYasha sighed and responded. "Basically her miko powers tried to fix her broken soul that was my fault by trying to cage the emotions. They only absorbed the power and became stronger, worsening the problem?" A small tear formed in his eye, but he refused to allow it to fall.

Kikyou was surprised at the fact that InuYasha had been listening so intently and that he had actually thought about it enough that he comprehended what had happened. Then again', she thought, when it involves Kagome, he jumps in without a second thought'. A pang of jealousy tugged at her heart, but she squelched it down.

InuYasha had never seen Kagome so sad and heartbroken as he had seen her that morning. As hard as he tried to stop it, a tear escaped his eye and fell down his cheek.

"No, Kikyou. Those emotions did not break her. I broke her." Another tear slid out.

Kikyou had never seen InuYasha cry. She realized that he was crying for Kagome. She wanted to run away and cry too, but not for Kagome. It hurt to see him caring so deeply for another. He truly has moved on,' she thought with a wry smile, there is nothing I can do to stop it. I don't want my reincarnation -no- Kagome to have the same fate as I. I do not want her to lose him. I must help them along slightly. Perhaps it is time I go back to where I belong.' She stepped toward InuYasha and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

They stood in silence for a long while, tears still spilling from InuYasha's eyes, and an occasional tear from Kikyou. It was Kikyou who broke it.

"InuYasha, there may be a way to prove to Kagome that we were saying goodbye. I must return her soul and go back to the land of the dead."

InuYasha looked dumbly at her for a moment before he comprehended what she had said.

"But Kikyou, you should not suffer for what is my fault. I broke her. Not you."

Kikyou just looked at him, dumbfounded. This was not the InuYasha she knew. Another pang of jealousy hit her when she remembered it was for the girl that he was acting this way. She pushed it down and looked sympathetically at InuYasha.

"InuYasha, it is not your fault. She hid her pain so well that you just did not see it. You must know, though, that Kagome is in love with you. Another thing is that music is the way her soul lets things go. If you find her with her music-making contraption, do not be surprised."

InuYasha looked at her, surprised that she knew about Kagome's time and her machines.

"How did you know?" was all that he could say.

Kikyou smiled at him. "I had nothing better to do than to follow your expedition and to send my soul catchers to find Naraku. If you went the wrong way, I would find a way to lead you closer to Naraku. I was against him, too, you know."

InuYasha was amazed to say the least. He thought that Kikyou had hated him, when all this time she had been helping him. He wondered why there was a change.

"Kikyou, why did you help us? I thought the only thing binding you was your hatred for me."

"Do you remember the moth demon, Gatenmaru? You transformed that time, I believe. Later on his brother came back for revenge. Your friends were caught in those soul altering cocoons. I have the same soul as Kagome, and I looked into her fearful dream. During the process of my spying, some of her soul merged with the part that I had, making me receive some of her kindness and understanding. That freed my soul of the hatred that I harbored. After that, I began to follow you."

InuYasha understood what she was talking about, but there was one question he wanted to know the answer to.

"What exactly did she dream?"

Kikyou smiled again. " She was dreaming that Naraku had come through the well and was trying to kill her family. Then she was at what she called school. Naraku turned up there too and all her friends fell unconscious from the miasma. She ran out of the school and tripped on a rock, falling. She expected to land on the ground, but instead you caught her. She remembered the two times that you were truly kind to her. She looked up to find you as a human. You said are you alright?' she replied I think so.' And here is the funny part. You said to her you smell nice'." Kikyou attempted to refrain from laughing, but to no avail. InuYasha stared at her, blushing from embarrassment.

"I did actually say that one time. And I was human when I said it."

Kikyou looked at him and giggled once more, stopping only to continue her recount of what she saw. " After you said that, Naraku emerged from the building. She told you to stay back, but you turned half demon again and told her you would always protect her, no matter what. Then her dream vanished. I have to say it was very touching."

InuYasha was amazed at all that he had heard. Kagome believed in him that much? He wanted to be worthy of that trust. He opened his mouth to say something, but Kikyou beat him to it.

"InuYasha, this may be the only way to tell Kagome that you love her and that you chose her. I must return her soul. I have this vial of jewel shards that I will place my soul into. Farewell, InuYasha."

Without leaving InuYasha a chance to protest, Kikyou pulled out her soul and placed it in the vial of jewel shards. A bright light flooded the forest, all the souls she had captured escaping to find peace. When the light faded, all that was left was her bow and arrows and the glowing vial containing the jewel shards and her soul. He bowed in respect for Kikyou and picked up her belongings to give to the love that he had broken.

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Kagome turned and fled, glowing tears leaving tracks on her now red and puffy face. Her heartbeat accelerated, adrenaline rushing through her veins. She was afraid. In her mind she knew this was not a rational fear, she didn't even know what she was afraid of. But her soul told her to run, and that's what she did. Her feet hit the ground with a dull thud that echoed in her ears, making her run faster. She headed for the well that she had so joyously came out of just moments before. Before she saw them. The thought made a fresh wave of tears run down her cheeks. The wind rushed through her hair, making it fly behind her, whipping the air like some black cat whispering through the night. The moon was full tonight, making everything look eerie as the shadows taunted her with images of InuYasha and Kikyou. Every leaf looked like his ears, every star like his beautiful eyes and the moon the same color as his silver locks. How she loved him. And oh, how he broke her. Now all she could do was run.

A demon suddenly emerged from the forest, causing her to stop abruptly. His huge demon fangs protruded from its mouth, its eyes glowing a bloody red and its claws the size of a mammoth's tusk. A glimmer caught her eye as she realized this demon had one of the many sacred jewel shards left. Her mouth opened automatically to shout for InuYasha, but briefly her mind came out of its emotional fog long enough to think one thing.

He chose her. He will never come for me now. I am going to die.'

Her heartbeat sped up again and her eyes glowed brighter than the moon itself. Her hands lit up the clearing with power as her miko powers quickly killed the beast. As quickly as her body had been possessed, the phantoms receded and her eyes resumed their brown color once more. She bent over and picked up the jewel shard, registering in her mind that she could use it to keep her raging emotions at bay. She pulled down the neck of her shirt and shoved the shard under her skin, directly over her heart. A glow surrounded her as the phantoms were trapped in the jewel shard until only one remained.

Sadness.

That was all she felt as she resumed her flight to the forest. It was all she felt as she approached the clearing where the well and the sacred tree resided. That was all she felt as she kneeled at the base of the tree, tears falling in a puddle on the ground. That was all she felt as the moon wrapped its light around her, in an attempt to comfort her. That was all she felt as the cause for her sadness emerged from the darkness.

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InuYasha quickly raced through the forest, following the scent of tears and Kagome. He hated the mixture. It left a bitter feel in his nose. He stopped abruptly as the smell of demon blood surrounded him. He looked down to see the remains of a demon. Here his love's scent changed. She smelled only of sadness with a hint of her old self. He wondered what had happened with the demon to make her scent change. He raced toward the well and slowly emerged from the shadows to find Kagome crying under the tree. He gently called her name and prayed she would answer.

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She heard her name. This time the jewel completed its job. The sadness in her heart was absorbed to the point that she felt nothing. She no longer felt the wind. She no longer felt the ground beneath her feet. She couldn't even sense InuYasha's presence behind her as she stood up and slowly turned around. She said nothing and they stood in the silence for what seemed like ages.

Then he spoke.

"Kagome."

She looked at him with empty, dead eyes.

"Hai."

His heart constricted at her flat tone. He really had broken her. She was just like Kikyou now. How had he managed it? How had he managed to break two women that he loved?

"Kagome…are you…what…we were saying goodbye."

Kagome looked at him, a flash of sadness coming to her eyes, before the emptiness returned.

"No InuYasha, we are saying goodbye."

That one simple phrase broke his heart more than he ever imagined it would. Kagome was gone. Now she was leaving him. He had killed her. He thought nothing of the rest of her soul in his haori, nor did he think of the jewel shards next to it inside his coat. He only thought of one answer to her statement.

"Are you at least going to sit me?"

She continued to look at him, if it could really be called looking. She slowly walked up to him and took hold of the rosary. Memories flashed before her eyes; the first time she had to use the spell, to the moment she was broken. Everything was there. Then she tightened her hold on it and pulled. The necklace snapped, sending the beads rolling over the ground.

"You are free."

Those were her only words. She turned away from him and leapt down the well.

His heart fell and broke. Tears ran down his face unchecked as he turned towards the village. Now he had to tell the others just what he had done to the one he loved.

He had to tell them what he had done to Kagome.

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Two months later

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It has been two months since Kagome left us. She was like a mother to me. InuYasha came in to tell us what happened on that night of the full moon. He came in crying, though I knew long before he entered the hut that something was wrong. The smell of tears did not go with InuYasha. Something was very wrong, indeed. They all thought I was asleep; well, they were wrong. I am just a very good faker. I was sitting in Sango's lap as he told how Kagome had caught him giving Kikyou one last embrace. She thought he was betraying her again. Kaede explained to us later about the whole soul-breaking thing. I don't understand how that could happen to her. She is strong. Stronger than anyone I know. Even InuYasha. I miss her. Now he sits up in the God tree all day and night, staring at the well. He waits for her to come back to him. I know she won't. I know that he has to go get her if he wants her back. I know he wants her back. He has eaten only five times since then, but only because Miroku knocked him out and force-fed him enough to choke an elephant. He never leaves that stupid tree. I hate him! How could he do this to her? Why did he not tell her before he went off to see Kikyou! I love him. He is like my father and I don't want him hurt. I may just be a child, but today, today I will get him down that well and to Kagome. Today I, Shippo, will save someone. Today he will go for her.

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It has been two months since my sister came back to us this way. She never smiles. She never cries. She never laughs. She never does anything. She feels nothing. She reminds me of those zombies that you see on horror movies or those people on my video games under mind control. She's not my sister anymore. She is just a shell. I look in her eyes and every time it makes me want to cry. I look into her eyes and I don't see my sister. I see nothing. My mother cries all the time, but she doesn't know that I see it. My grandfather worries constantly and hides ofudas and charms in her room to try and drive away whatever is making her act this way. She goes to school every day, does her homework, eats like a robot and goes to bed. I don' t think she even sleeps. Today is Saturday and she will be twenty-two years old. Every day I pray to every god of every religion that he comes for her. Every day I think about what he could have done to make her like this. Today Mom, Gramps and Me are going to shop for her birthday presents. I pray that he will remember her today and come for her. I will always pray. Today has to be the day. Today will be the day he comes for her.

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InuYasha sat in his tree, thinking about Kagome. That was all he ever thought about anymore. He cried every day and was not ashamed of it.

Today is Kagome's birthday.' he thought, I hope she comes today.'

"InuYasha!"

He heard his name and looked down for its source.

"InuYasha! Come down here!"

He found Shippo at the base of the tree.

"Shut up runt, you know very well I don't leave this tree." He yelled.

Shippo frowned.

"Then I'll just come up there."

InuYasha frowned back.

"Where's Miroku with that damn head-banging staff? I told you yesterday I'm not hungry."

Shippo shook his head.

"I'm here alone. I want to talk to you."

InuYasha studied him for a moment.

"Fine. Just don't leave claw marks on the tree."

Shippo scampered up the tree and jumped into InuYasha's lap.

"InuYasha, I want you to listen to me and listen only! I don't care what you say right now but I want my mommy back! You are going down that well and getting her. Today is her birthday and I am smart enough to know that she is not coming back unless you go get her!"

InuYasha stared at him in shock. Shippo never seriously yelled before. He had never been angry and he had no idea how he should react.

"Shippo, you know I can't she'll just send me back and-"

Shippo cut him off.

"Bullshit."

InuYasha stared at him wide-eyed.

"Wha-"

"I said Bullshit. You know that you can heal her soul. You know you have the proof you need to tell her who you chose. You are letting her suffer because you are having a pity party and loving it! I am tired of this! It is a sad day when Shippo is the voice of reason in this world! You love Kagome and everyone knows it, now get back down that well and save her!"

InuYasha stared at him a moment before pushing him off his lap and out of the tree. He waited until he was gone before dropping out of the tree, stumbling on his feet slightly from lack of use. He walked over to the well slowly, before looking around and finally jumping into the well's cool aura.

Shippo smiled as he saw InuYasha heed his words. He walked back to Kaede's to tell the others how he had just saved Kagome.

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Kagome sat on her couch with her guitar, the one thing that let her feel. She was writing a new song. She stared at the title, tracing the words over and over again, thinking of what she had in the world. A family that avoided her. Everyone left her for someone else. Everyone had someone. Sango had Miroku. InuYasha had Kikyou. Even Shippo had Kirara. She had no one. Her heart cried every day, but the shard sucked all the emotions away until she was dry. Nobody could hear her heart's feeble cries. She slowly wrote the title of her song on the top of the paper. She began to play her guitar and sing the lyrics on her paper. Her family was gone for the day, so she had nothing to worry about. The second her fingers touched the guitar; her eyes lost their vacancy and her mind returned to her body. She was herself for once. She had no idea that someone was behind her, listening to her every word.

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InuYasha jumped out of the well on Kagome's side and smiled at the familiarity. The well, the modern era stench, and most of all, Kagome's scent. It had been only a memory until now. Now he was there. He walked to the house and went in, seeing the back of Kagome's head on the couch. He took a step toward her, not sure what to do. He froze when she began to play her guitar.

Her voice was so lyrical and beautiful. It was so different from what he heard when she said goodbye to him. He felt the beads in his haori as he listened to the rest of her song.

She stopped playing. She felt something behind her. Putting her guitar down, she turned around slowly. What she saw made her heart jump and her eyes to go vacant again. There he stood, InuYasha. He had heard the whole thing. He had witnessed the few moments that she was allowed to be herself. He had tears in his eyes and she wanted desperately to care, but she couldn't. Now it was the jewel's emotionless aura that possessed her. She watched him pull something out of his fire rat robe. Her eyes widened as she saw a glowing jar containing the rest of her soul. The part Kikyou had stolen.

"Kagome. This is my proof that I was saying goodbye to her. I'm going to let it out of the jar now. I only hope this brings my Kagome back to me."

She watched as he unscrewed the top and released the soul. She felt the impact as it flew into her stomach. She began to lift off the floor, her hair flying about her face. She screamed as she felt a shooting pain in her heart.

InuYasha saw her scream. Her heart began to glow and a bloody jewel shard flew out of her body. It landed on the floor as she descended and landed on the couch. He ran to her side.

"Kagome? What happened? Are you alright?"

Kagome looked at him a moment, briefly registering the fact that she was feeling emotions.

"Inu…Yasha?"

He smiled at her.

"Yeah, Kagome. I'm here. It's all okay."

She frowned.

"Where's Kikyou?"

InuYasha looked directly into her eyes.

"She's gone. I chose you."

Kagome's eyes transformed from the icy depths they used to be into their original brown warmth. She shook her head.

"I don't believe you."

InuYasha grabbed her shoulders and turned her to look at him.

"Kagome! Who's soul do you think it was that just flew into you? I chose you…I love you Kagome."

Kagome stared at him a moment. Had he just told her that he loved her? That he chose her? It couldn't be true.

InuYasha looked into her eyes and saw her doubt. He decided to show her.

Kagome looked into InuYasha's eyes and realized she was being lifted from her sofa by his arm. His face kept getting closer and closer to her own. It barely registered in Kagome's mind what was happening.

He's going to kiss me. InuYasha is going to kiss me.'

She had no time for more thought when his lips touched hers. She felt the emotions overwhelming her soul return to their place and her heart mend again. She was herself again and she returned his kiss. Her arms went around his neck and her eyes closed. His lips danced with hers, his heart mingling with her soul. She felt his love and he felt hers. This kiss that was so innocent became so intense and passionate. His arms tightened around her as his tongue swept her lips for entrance. She granted it and sighed as his tongue swept her mouth and tangled with hers. She became a little more daring and reached up on top of his head. She found her treasure and began to rub his ears, earning a low growl from his throat. It vibrated into her mouth and she giggled. They pulled away slowly.

"InuYasha" Kagome said.

"Yes?" He looked into her eyes that were now full of life and love.

"Thank You and…"

InuYasha smiled at her.

"I love you InuYasha."

His smile grew into a grin.

"I love you too Kagome. Would you be my mate?"

She smiled and jumped into his arms.

"Yes InuYasha. I will."

InuYasha returned her embrace and kissed her again.

"Happy Birthday, My Kagome."

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Kagome's family walked into the door, expecting to find Kagome on the couch, staring at the TV, emotionless eyes as usual. They didn't see her. Sota called for this sister, and heard footsteps upstairs. What they didn't expect to see was InuYasha come down the stairs, with Kagome following. They also didn't expect to see her smile and hug each of them.

"Mama, Sota, Gramps, InuYasha and I are going to be mates! He asked me to marry him!"

They all smiled, and her Mom ran to go call everyone.

Sota grinned extra large when InuYasha ruffled his hair.

InuYasha was going to be his brother.

More importantly, he had his sister back.

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The End.


End file.
